McCullough Gulch
July 27, 2004
Provided and copyright by: Thea Kluge, Thea Kluge Graphic Design
Summary authors & editors: Steve Kluge
This photo was taken on July 6, 2004 looking east from an elevation of 3780 m (12400 ft) on a small arete that divides the upper portion of McCullogh Gulch near Breckenridge, CO. McCullough Gulch was formed as alpine glaciers carved, scoured and polished a broad, U-shaped valley as they flowed slowly eastward down off the Ten Mile range of the Colorado Rockies. Alpine glacial valleys are often characterized by a stair-like "tread and riser" topography, and the unnamed lake in the foreground is just one of a string of "paternoster lakes" developed on the treads in this valley (see map of McCullough Gulch and glossary linked below). The flanks of Quandary Peak, the 12th highest in CO at 4348 m (14265 ft), rise on right in the photo, and the tilted layers of red sandstone give Red Mountain, in the center background, its name.
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